GoldGelberRg

Yukio Mishima distinguishes between two different types of people in "Sun and Steel": the sun person and the night person.

The sun person spends their time outdoors during the day, absorbing solar energy and using it to be active and create things. They use the nights for regeneration.
The night person, on the other hand, usually spends the day away from the sun, possibly even sleeping, and the nights with books, their own thoughts, and worries. Mishima goes into great detail about how this affects one's outward appearance, which I will skip here.

If one had to assign LAVS to one of these two archetypes, it would undoubtedly be for the night person, the worry-maker, the introspective one.

The dominant smoke is more dark gray or black than ecclesiastical white. The other components of the fragrance, as mentioned by others, only occasionally make an appearance and always remain in the background. For me, there is also a somewhat synthetic cedarwood note in the opening.

The sillage also fits less with the solar type: the scent remains, in my opinion, quite close to the skin from the very beginning and only becomes more intimate over time. There is no shouting or cheering here.

In summary: LAVS is, in my view, one of the darker frankincense fragrances, which, due to (for me) rather weak performance, does not become intrusive or unpleasant. Those who want to smell of seclusion and dark thoughts are in the right place here.

P.S.: The frankincense for sun people is, in my opinion, Cardinal!

After I really enjoyed Cardinal and am currently looking for a scent that conveys sufficient Catholic incense vibes, I urgently wanted to test Eau Sacrée.

In the opening, I get dense, white incense and a hint of mulled wine spice (this association may be due to the season).
The scent does not change drastically as it develops, but the spiciness diminishes.

I particularly want to highlight that the scent is surprisingly fresh and has a slightly zesty quality.
For me, it actually smells like how I originally imagined "Zefiro | Xerjoff," an incense with a white wine note. Personally, I missed this in the aforementioned scent; Eau Sacrée comes much closer to my idea of it.

I believe that this scent would also work well in summer due to this aspect.
Longevity is very solid (~10h), but typical for Extrait, with rather discreet projection.

In conclusion: a bit too sour for my personal taste, but still an interesting scent with depth and intriguing facets. So, it’s not my perfect Catholic mass fragrance, but definitely a worthwhile trial.

Purpose and Purpose 50 (hereafter P50) are two fragrances that differ significantly more than their names suggest.
Purpose smells like an old church or library: dust, a bit of mustiness, and incense that has permeated every crack of the building for decades. This description might not sound particularly appealing at first, but it can indeed be so. The whole thing presents itself with a certain bitterness, sharpness, and intensity, especially in the opening, creating a powerful, venerable scent that radiates calm and unexcited strength.

Since I quite like this construction, my decant of the original Purpose has emptied rapidly.
P50 receives consistently good reviews, so it was natural for me to test this one as well - I expected an enhancement and intensification of the fragrance profile.

P50 is fundamentally a different scent from the very first minute. Before I delve into the specific phases, I want to address the overarching theme: softness. It’s not that the many edges and corners of Purpose have simply been smoothed out; rather, the scent smells as if the original has been wrapped in a soft "packaging material" - in some kind of cream, plant-based butter, or another "creamy" smelling fat.

The intensity and sharpness of the original are completely absent in the opening. The first thing I smell here is a kind of nut butter, similar to a very rich body cream. Only very slowly does the actual Purpose come through, but it remains weak throughout the entire opening.

In the following hours, the mentioned butteriness and the Purpose-typical dust and old incense increasingly blend together. Anyone who thinks that this doesn't sound very appealing probably understands my main problem with P50.
For me, these scent worlds simply do not fit together; the thought even makes me a bit nauseous.

In the final phase of the fragrance (it lasts forever), a certain sweetness is added. This too is not beneficial to the actual core of the scent.

In summary: P50 does not intensify the scent of Purpose; instead, it merges it with another cream DNA (many refer to Guidance here, which I cannot assess due to a lack of comparison). What remains is a fragrance that is so softly enveloped that one can no longer recognize or appreciate its own characteristics.
Those who liked Purpose may find it difficult to connect with P50.

What a shame!

Amouage is a house I have felt quite ambivalent about until now. While some of the fragrances are definitely very special and exciting, they are often too "unconventional" for me to actually wear.
For this reason, I was biased against Overture - it is described as very complex, animalic, and even "sweaty." However, this negative expectation was not confirmed for me. In fact, this is a fragrance that I have added as my first full Amouage bottle to my collection.

Right after spraying, it becomes apparent that the fragrance leaves a veritable film on the skin due to its high oil concentration. However, it doesn't smell oily and heavy to me at first. Primarily, it has an intense scent of spices: I can detect cumin and cardamom. This is probably where some people find the slightly "sweaty" component, which I don't understand at all; yes, there is something sharp and a bit uncomfortable, but not in a human way. To me, it feels more like taking off the blender lid after preparing a spice mix and getting a whiff of the floating, powdered spice. In short, it's not a dealbreaker for me, but definitely strong!
Alongside the spices, there is a very sweet, almost overripe citrus fruit (it must be grapefruit) and a quasi-alcohol-free cognac that captures only the best notes of the drink without evoking the impression of boozy fumes.
The opening is truly impressive and remains present for about an hour before smoothly transitioning into the next phase.

Subsequently, the fragrance becomes rounder. The mentioned spice powder no longer tickles the nose but is now beautifully soft, nestled in a sweetening resin. However, the sweetness does not become overwhelming and is balanced by pleasant, rounded smoky and resinous notes. The fruit slowly bids farewell.
Normally, I am not a big fan of animalic notes, but here something (castoreum?) is beautifully packaged and is not offensive to me.
In this form, the fragrance lasts for many hours - easily 7 to 9.

Even afterward, the fragrance is still perceptible, but the spices are primarily just a diffuse warm-sweet-animalic scent to my nose. I can even smell it faintly on my skin after showering the next morning.

Overall, the longevity is truly excellent, and the fragrance is well noticeable. The sillage is very solid, but not intrusive when applied carefully. Here, I recommend approaching it slowly - since the fragrance has such an intense profile and some apparently do not perceive it positively, everyone must try for themselves what makes sense.

For the office and everyday wear, I personally find the fragrance too elegant, intense, and special. However, I wore it at an evening event with two sprays and even received an unsolicited compliment right away. In my opinion, it is excellent for the evening and special events - especially in winter.
I can't fully imagine the fragrance in warm temperatures yet, but I will try it in spring and summer.
As for the bottle: it is crafted with high quality and, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful from Amouage with its milk glass. I paid €180 for my Overture, which I consider a fair price (especially with two sprays per wear).

In summary, Overture is one of the most special and exciting fragrances I have smelled so far. Everything here smells wonderfully balanced, intense, warm, and confident. Bravo!

The scent starts off very intense. After the first few minutes, however, what can initially only be described as green-fresh settles down: now a distinct green pear and more diffuse, green herbs become noticeable. In the latter case, it is less about the leaves and flowers, but rather the stems with their light green hue. Additionally, the slight fruity sweetness of the fragrance is now "at its strongest," and thankfully, it won't get any more intense.

In the next hour, the fragrance changes in such a way that the crisp, perhaps slightly unripe, green pear becomes more prominent, while the stem-like green becomes lighter and more fleeting. Now the mint is clearly recognizable to me, although it is not necessarily realistic.

The subsequent base is, for me, green-synthetic-salty. It is very light and not at all overpowering. The pear is gone, while the mint remains in a synthetic-abstract form.

Even though I haven't read about salt anywhere so far, I can definitely detect it in the base! It is certainly not the dirty sea salt like Oud Minerale - Tom Ford, but rather bears similarities to the synthetic sea breeze of Sel Marin - Heeley.

Projection is strong in the first hour and then remains moderate for about 4 hours, after which the scent becomes close to the skin. Longevity is easily around 10 hours for me.

In my opinion, almost anyone can wear this scent; in spring and summer, it will surely work very well in the office. Personally, I also enjoy wearing it during endurance sports - here it impresses with its presence and freshness without being overpowering or unpleasant.

Overall, a good fragrance!